Don't Panic
by ThraeNavnik
Summary: Meeting in secret during a war is never easy. Knowing your closest friend refuses to let you help him makes it even worse. In a stressful time like that, fights are inevitable. Time Man just wished he had planned his advice-seeking question in advance. A requested sequel to Bottled Secrets


**It's been a while since I've posted something on here. I've been busy lately with stuff in real life, but I will be returning to my fanfictions very soon. I was very pleasantly surprised to find a review on Bottled Secrets that gave me a request; to write something dramatic and tragic with these two. Being the kind of person who enjoys tormenting her favorite characters, I couldn't refuse. So, this is for you, Itanimulli! Thank you for the request!**

"I suppose you called me here because I did something to get myself into trouble?" Enker leaned against the wall of the abandoned building, a curious brow raised as he watched the smaller robot pace around the dimly lit room. Time Man was mumbling loud enough for Enker to know he was far from pleased, yet still too soft for him to make out exactly what he was saying. Enker struggled to keep a straight face as he watched his friend, trying to keep an air of confused innocence around himself. He knew very well why the older robot had called such a rushed meeting, but he wasn't going to admit that without an entertaining fight.

Time Man cast a withering look his way in response, eyes narrowed in frustration. "Take a wild guess."

"No?"

"Guess again." Enker was even more tempted to start laughing at the expression on Time Man's face. It was an 'I don't know whether to be impressed or annoyed with you' look and one that he had had been getting constantly from Time Man ever since their meeting on the hill a little over three months ago. He kept it together long enough to manage a simple reply.

"Now, now, I didn't break the promise I made, did I?" He could tell Time Man was losing whatever patience he had left. It was a new record, really. Normally he would have snapped by this point in the conversation, but he was showing a surprising amount of control.

"You promised you wouldn't attack my brother," he hissed through gritted teeth.

"I promised not to hurt _Rock_ ," Enker pointed out. "I never said anything about not attacking _Mega Man_."

" _They're the exact same person, you_...!" Time Man took a deep breath to calm himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did you at least _try_ not to fight him?"

"Time, you know that I can't go against my programming, even if I really wanted to." Enker's smile wavered for just a moment. There was a flash of sympathy in Time Man's eyes and he nodded as Enker added, "I know it's not much, but if it helps I did go easy on him and backed out when I knew I couldn't win."

"Thank you for that," Time Man said, letting out a sigh. "Next time can you avoid the fight all together, though?" Enker's smile did fade after that comment.

"I'm going to be straight with you on this, okay?"

"Please, there's nothing straight about you," Time Man huffed. Enker let out an offended noise at that comment.

"First of all; rude," he said. "and second of all; I can't do that. If Wily sends me after Rock, I have to listen. I know I wasn't built to destroy your brother, but that's the purpose Wily's forced upon me until further notice. Time Man, you have to trust me when I say I'd do _anything_ for you, anything to go against my coding-to avoid hurting Rock or any of your other siblings-but I don't have a choice. If I resist or try to rebel, Wily will get suspicious and he might find out what I know. He find out about us. I wouldn't put it past him to erase my memories, reprogram me to hate you and the rest of your family. I can't risk that. Not after he's already done so much to both of us."

Silence fell over the two as Enker's words sank in. Time Man stared down at the floor. Even though they had shared their deepest secrets with one another on the hill, trust wasn't something that was earned from either robot very easily. Despite being friends, they chose their words carefully, never giving out too much information about either side. Being in two different sides of a war made things much more difficult than it needed to be for the two of them, and despite Time Man's constant pestering, not once could he ever convince Enker to switch sides.

"I trust you," Time Man said after a few moments. "But that means you have to trust me when I tell you to be careful. I know you're strong and I don't doubt your combat abilities even the tiniest bit, but if the rest of my family, especially Elec Man, catches you at our house trying to fight Rock, I won't be able to defend you. Not without them getting suspicious."

"I know, I know," Enker sighed and kicked a bit of rubble away. He let out a cry of frustration, startling Time Man, and sat down, hugging his knees close to his chest. "I hate this. I hate not knowing who or where my creator is. I hate being forced into a purpose I know isn't mine. I hate being forced to meet my own best friend in secret because our families hate each other."

Time Man slowly made his way over to sit down beside him, unsure if he should say anything or not. It was rare for Enker to have such an emotional outburst, and quite frankly it was beginning to worry him. He reached out to gently hold one of Enker's hands, and the combat robot leaned against him, murmuring a soft "thank you".

"Enker, you know I can help you," Time Man began. Enker ripped his arm away and stood up.

" _No_ ," he said sharply. "We've been over this, Time Man. I am not going to let you take me back to your father so he can reprogram me."

"It's the best chance you have," Time Man said. "Enker, please. You'll be free from Wily's programming and we won't have to keep dodging our families and giving them half truths all the time about where we're going."

"And what do you think your father is going to put in place of my programming!?" Enker took a step back, a look of betrayal flashing in his eyes for a moment. "I don't know what my true purpose is and I'm fairly sure he doesn't either! I have no clear purpose! You saw what happened the last time he did that to a robot!"

"You're not Proto Man!" Time Man sputtered in protest.

"No, but your old man learned his lesson with him," Enker spat back. "He wouldn't let a purposeless robot run around, even with the Three Laws! A robot with no purpose is a _dead_ robot! I'll be destroyed! I'm better off with Wily right now because Wily won't turn me into scrap!"

"Doctor Light would never do that to you!" Time Man leaped to his feet. "We will find a purpose for you, Enker!"

"No," Enker repeated. "No, no and no again! I'm not going to risk something like that, so just drop it and go home!"

"Enker-"

"Go. Home."

The two stared at each other for a long minute in silence. Time Man opened his mouth to say something but then shut it. He averted his eyes to the ground, unable to meet Enker's furious gaze any longer. They had gone back and forth over this same subject many times, but it had never gone so far before.

"Fine," he replied. "Do not come crying to me when you change your mind." Without giving Enker any time to reply, he turned and headed out the door.

He managed to avoid a majority of his brothers when he got home, thankfully. He wasn't in the mood to deal with any of them. He immediately lay down on the bed and buried his face in the pillow, unaware that someone had followed him and entered his room.

"Time Man?" Time Man looked up as Elec Man sat down on the bed, a concerned frown on his face. "Is everything alright? Oil Man said you looked upset."

"Has there ever been a time where you wanted to help someone close to you, but they kept refusing?" Elec Man stared down at him, a brow raised as if to say ' _you're_ really asking me that?' "I mean, you know how to help them and- ugh, forget it. It's nothing."

"It sure doesn't sound like nothing," Elec Man said. "Does this have something to do with you sneaking around?" Time Man shot up, eyes wide.

"What?" he squeaked. "N-no! I haven't been-! I never-!" Elec Man chuckled softly.

"You're not as quiet as you like to think when you come back in the middle of the night," he said. "What's going on, Time Man?"

Time Man didn't say anything for a long time. He had promised Enker he wouldn't tell anyone about their meeting on the hill. He had promised not to tell anyone he had been stolen. But he hadn't promised Enker he wouldn't tell anyone of their other meetings.

"I'm dating Enker," Time Man blurted out. Elec Man stared at him, a bewildered look on his face. _I'm dead. Elec Man is going to kill me or I'm going to die from embarrassment but whatever happens I am_ dead _._

"I'm sorry, what?" Oh, good, maybe Elec Man hadn't heard him correctly- "You're _dating Enker_?"

"Yes." Time Man looked away from his older brother.

"Out of everyone in this family, you are the last person I would have expected to make such a poor decision," Elec Man sighed. Time Man flinched at that comment. "Time Man, Enker has tried to kill Rock multiple times."

"It is not his fault." Time Man refused to look up at his brother. He already knew he was disappointed with him. He didn't want to see it. "He cannot control who programmed him." _Oh, how I wish he could._

"What if he's using you?" Elec Man questioned. "How do you know he really cares?"

"If he did not care about me then why would he help me find a loophole in his programming?" Time Man shot back, finally looking up at his brother. The frown on Elec Man's face deepened.

"Loophole?" he asked. "What loophole?"

"The loophole that says he has to destroy Mega Man, but says nothing about Rock," Time Man replied. "We figured out that if Rock does not go into battle mode in front of him, Enker will not have to fight him."

Elec Man closed his eyes in thought for a moment. "Do you think that would work on all of Wily's robots?"

"I do not know about that," Time Man sighed, laying back down. "If it does, it is probably best not to mention it. Wily might fix that loophole if one of his more loyal robots finds out and informs him of it."

"How long?" Elec Man asked. "How long have you been dating?"

"A few months," Time Man answered. "Please, do not tell anyone about this, even Doctor Light. We were planning on keeping it a secret until..." He trailed off. What should he say? "Until Enker finds his real creator"? That would be shattering his promise to Enker right then and there.

"Until what?" Elec Man questioned, eyes narrowing. "Time Man, is there something you're not telling me?"

"I cannot say," Time Man murmured. "I promised him I would not tell _anyone_. I am sorry, Elec Man, but I cannot break my promise."

Elec Man got up, shaking his head. "I hope you two know what you're doing."

"You are not mad?" Time Man asked.

"I can't say that I'm happy," Elec Man sighed. "But, no, I'm not mad. He's clearly doing something right, considering you've been much more lenient with your schedule this past month and you seem genuinely happier." Time Man blinked. Was that true? Sure, he often had to make some last minute changes to his schedule because of Enker, but he didn't think he felt any more happy than before.

Then again, Time Man didn't exactly have any friends outside of his family before Enker, either. Just coworkers, patients and acquaintances. He would have to think more on that later, but right now he had a bigger issue;

Telling Enker they were dating.

Time Man had rushed back to the place they had last met as soon as he finished work He wasn't sure if Enker was still over their fight, considering it was the day right after the argument. Sure, Time Man had raised his voice at Enker constantly, but Enker had always riled him up on purpose, smiling at him through the whole rant. This conversation couldn't wait, however, so if he had to Time Man would take the entire blame himself.

"Enker?" he called as he stepped into the building. A pair of green eyes peered up at him from a dark corner.

"Hey," Enker greeted softly. Time Man looked away from him, but before he could say anything, Enker spoke up again, "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"I shouldn't have pestered you about it," Time Man replied. "Especially after you already told me 'no' so many times before. I just hate seeing you like this." He walked over to sit beside his friend. Enker wrapped an arm around him, pulling him closer. Time Man leaned into the embrace, thinking back to what Elec Man had said to him about him being happier. He pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He had to focus.

"I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. Are you okay? I mean, I wasn't exactly, you know, nice about your dad." Time Man looked up at Enker, noting how he nervously averted his gaze.

"I can't say I'm happy, but I'm not mad either," Time Man answered. "You were upset and you said things you now regret. It happens all the time. Like with me last night."

"Time Man, you don't have to regret trying to help me," Enker said. "I'm just a bit paranoid about reprogramming right now. And I'm stubborn."

"I didn't mean _our_ conversation," Time Man muttered. Enker didn't seem to hear him, thankfully.

"So, that was our first big fight," Enker said after a moment of silence. "Our first lover's quarrel, if you will."

"Please do not joke about that kind of thing right now," Time Man groaned, leaning back and covering his face with his hands.

"Do I want to know?" Enker questioned, an amused gleam in his eyes. This kind of reaction from Time Man was rare.

"Elec Man came into my room after he saw me come back inside and he knew I was upset," Time Man quickly began to explain. "I tried to give him an explanation but I ended up panicking after he pointed out he knew I'd been sneaking out and I may or may not have told I've been meeting with you in secret and I may or may not have explained that by telling him that we're kind of, sort of...dating?"

Enker took the news surprisingly well. A little _too_ well, in Time Man's opinion.

"Stop laughing!" Time Man protested. "It's not funny!"

"It's hilarious!" Enker grinned down at Time Man. "If we're going to do this we need to come up with pet names."

"No," Time Man said instantly.

"I'm calling you Ti-Ti," Enker continued, ignoring him.

" _No_ ," Time Man repeated.

"Well, Ti-Ti, the jig is up, so let's go introduce me to your parents."

" _Enker_!"


End file.
